By Royce Meyerott

Author of the Con Argument for the Voters Pamphlet

This letter is addressed to all islanders who believe that democracy is a good way to govern. Democracy does not work unless the voters are fully informed before they vote. To that end, I make it a habit of “looking under the hood” to see what a proposal offers and what it is going to cost. In 2022 I wrote to all islanders and demonstrated that the library was not being very transparent about the ultimate costs to the taxpayers for the proposed new library. I expressed that information to the then-director of the library. In the subsequent election, 60% of the voters said no to the proposal.

I have recently written the ballot brochure con argument against the proposed Library Levy lift. I will include it below. In order to accurately write the con I requested the annual financial statements for the library from 2019 to 2023 which included the separate ledger for 2022-2023 for the new library building project. All of my figures in the con are taken directly from the library’s financial statements.

On July 11 I installed signs that very simply stated the factual cost of the library’s proposed levy lift over the next 20 years. Before I came up with that very simple metric I consulted on a number of occasions with Paul Dossett (the previous County Assessor) to make sure of the accuracy of my sign. The only personal opinion is the last two words that express my opinion as well as most other islanders that I shared the financial data with.

While I was installing the signs I received mostly positive encouragement from drivers and the public that were passing by. Two individuals slowed to tell me that I was spreading ”misinformation”. I invited both of them to stop and discuss the basis for the sign. They quickly drove away.

The following is the financial basis for the sign. These figures were re-checked on July 16, by the current County Assessor.

The current total property assessment for San Juan Island is $6,161,183,199. Multiply $6,161,183 (which is assessments in thousands) by the proposed tax rate of .41 to get the total tax per year. ($6,161,183. X .41 equals $2,526,085.) This is the approximate amount that the Library tax would be in 2025 with the proposed levy increase.

This amounts to $210,507.00 tax per month.

The new levy added approximately $961,144.00 per year. This amount goes up 1% ($9,611,44) the first year and an additional 1% compounded per year in subsequent years.

This is a new tax of approximately $80,095. per month.

My sign states that the cost to the taxpayers will be $20 million over 20 years. Actually, the cost is higher than $20 million when you account for a 1% tax increase that compounds over 20 years.

I just thought that all of you should know what the cost of this library levy lift is. With this in mind, it is my wish that all of you vote.

For more information: https://www.sanjuancountywa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/29419/2024-Tax-Year-Statement-of-Assessments